Content marketing can be a powerful tool to increase brand awareness, leads and sales.

But, just creating quality content is half of the battle. To see real results, it is important to promote the content to your target audience.

There are many channels that can be used to promote your content. These include email marketing, social media and email marketing as well as paid advertising and influencer partnerships. It can be overwhelming to choose where to focus your efforts with so many options.

This post will discuss the best ways to promote your content, and offer tips on optimizing each channel.

Quick Takeaways

• 
  Using paid, owned, and earned channels to optimize content promotion is the best way to do so.
  
• 
  Choosing the most effective content to promote is much more efficient than pushing content manually selected
  
• 
  Email and search provide the greatest reach and conversion for most brands
  
• 
  However, it is important to test what works for you.
  

Marketing Channels that are integrated (or converged)

For a long time, we have been discussing integrated marketing. What does it actually mean?

Many brands have found that integrated marketing means having someone or a team responsible for content distribution and creation. This could include campaign content. Others refer to paid media.

This lack of clarity often results in poor execution and promises of integrated marketing. Let's get this straight:

Integrated marketing is a combination of owned, paid and earned media to create and distribute content that maximizes reach, engagement, and conversions.

In simpler terms, integrated marketing should enable you to:

• Get found
• Share your experience
• Get leads

Converged media is simply another name for a content marketing strategy that combines all paid, earned, and owned media to get the best results throughout the buyer journey.

Methods for optimizing content for promotion

Before we can look at the most effective channels for content promotion, it is important to first consider the best practices in content promotional.

1. Prior to promoting your content, identify the best performing pieces. To determine what content resonates with your audience, look at metrics like website traffic, engagement, conversions, and conversions. Once you know what works, you can target your promotions efforts to those parts.

2. When it comes to content promotion, timing is everything. When your audience is most active, engaged, and posting on social media is the best time. Google Analytics is a great tool to analyze your audience's behavior and plan your promotions accordingly.

3. Use your old content to repurpose and republish: To reach new audiences, republish and reuse the best-performing content on other platforms. To give old content a new look and make them more relevant, you can update it with new images or videos.

4. Use visuals Visuals are a great way to make your content stand out on social networks and other platforms. To make your content more shareable and engaging, use images, GIFs and videos.

5. Create and maintain a content promotion schedule. This will ensure consistency in your content promotion efforts. This will allow you to plan ahead and schedule your content promotion so that you are organized and on the right track.

6. Pay promotion only when necessary: Although paid promotion can help increase visibility, it is important to choose the right promotion. Paid promotion is not for all content. Make sure you test the different pieces to find which ones work best.

7. Measure and track your results. It's crucial to measure and track your results in order to determine what's working and what's not. To measure the success and effectiveness of your content promotion efforts, use tools like Google Analytics, social media analysis, and email marketing software.

These tips will help you promote your content effectively and reach your audience. Be consistent, measure and test your results and optimize your content over time to maximize reach and engagement.

Which content promotion channels are most effective?

Which channels are the most effective in promoting your content? It depends on many factors, so the answer is yes. For most companies, the best place to start is on your website. Next, you can use email.

Let's look at some of these channels a little more closely:

1. Your Website: If you don't post it on your website, content marketing doesn't apply to it. This is the best place to attract new prospects via organic search and/or SEO. It's also easier to measure than other channels. It's why we exist! Search engines are a great way to improve the visibility of your content. To increase your content's visibility in search engine results pages, use keywords in your content, meta tag and descriptions and internal and externe links.

2. Email Marketing: Email marketing can be a great way to reach existing audiences and promote your content. Personalize your subject lines for increased open rates. Segment your email list to ensure your content reaches the right people. You can use A/B testing for the best subject lines, calls-to-action and sending times for your audience.

3. Social Media: This is a great platform to reach large and engaged audiences. It's crucial to select the right platform for your brand and target audience. LinkedIn might be better than Instagram if your target audience consists primarily of B2B professionals. After you have identified the best platforms, optimize your content by using the correct format and hashtags.

4. Paid Advertising: Paid advertisements can quickly increase visibility for your content. To reach your audience, you can use platforms such as Facebook Ads, Google AdWords and LinkedIn Ads. To optimize your campaigns, set clear goals and track your progress over time.

5. Influencer marketing: This is a great way for you to reach new audiences and increase your brand's credibility by tapping into the influence others have. Find influencers within your industry with a following that matches your target audience using Buzzsumo. Then, work with them to create sponsored material that showcases your brand and products.

6. Employee advocacy: This is my secret weapon tip. It's the key reason we have been so successful in building success at SAP. We created a team of writers and employees who were willing to share our content on their social networks. The first 100 email subscribers we received were salespeople who used our content on LinkedIn to sell.

What Sources Really Have The Most Impact?

This data has been missing for hours. It turns out that no matter what source you use (Hubspot or Alexa), the answer is quite clear.

80-90% website traffic comes via organic search and people finding your site through their own searches.

On average, social only accounts for 46% and less than 5% of traffic in B2B companies. Paid traffic is also a small percentage of traffic.

This is why content marketing is so important to drive the most traffic and leads.

There are other channels for promotion

The aforementioned channels should be the core of your promotion strategy. However, there are other, more niche places where you can post your content. These are just a few of the many places you can try.

• Thread www.inbound.org
• Find the right Redditthread
• Find a Slack group that is related to your industry or topic.
• Post your product/tool to Product Hunt
• Make a Snapchat story about your content and include a link to allow viewers to take a screenshot (we recommend bit.ly!)
• Use your Instagram bio to post a link to your content and a photo

Once your engine is up and running, optimization for conversion and increased leads can be achieved without the need to create new content.

Promoting your content is as important as creating it. You can reach your target audience through a variety channels and increase engagement. For maximum engagement and reach, it is important to keep track of your campaign results.

You Need Engaging Content to Promote on Your Channels

Our Content Builder Service can help you get more visitors to your website by providing quality content that is consistently published. Contact me for a quick consultation and I will send you a PDF copy of my books. Get started today to generate more leads and traffic for your business.

Marketing Insider Group loves content marketing. Are we biased? Maybe. We also have good reasons.

Content marketing is one the best ways to increase your audience, engage customers and build your brand image. To reach their target market and be a leader in their industry, every business must have a content marketing plan. Content marketing is a key part of the marketing strategy of 73% of B2B professionals.

Content marketing professionals spend their days creating content strategies and content that is high quality for clients. It's not work. You never have to work if you love what you do!

We can't list all reasons why content marketing is so important to us, so we tried to limit the list.

Quick Takeaways

• 
  79% content marketers use content marketing to generate quality leads
  
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  Content marketing increases leads, establishes credibility and demonstrates value. It also boosts social media.
  
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  Google shows more than 8.5 million searches per day. This gives you the chance to increase brand awareness by using content.
  
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  Content marketers are committed to sharing high-quality content and not filler content written to rank well in SERPs
  

You'll fall in love with content marketing after learning all about the many ways it can boost your business.

11 Reasons Content Marketing is so Great

Here are our top 11 reasons we love content marketing and why you should, too.

1. Quality leads can be generated through content marketing

Content marketing is a great way to generate high-potential prospects. 79% of content marketers use content marketing specifically to generate quality leads.

Image Source: Meme Arsenal

Customers today want answers quickly. You can help your customers realize their dreams by doing some research.

• Demographics
• Geo-data
• Interests

You will be able to target your audience and provide content that is relevant to them. This will help you generate quality leads.

Content marketing is actually responsible for 1,000,000 annual visitors and hundreds upon hundreds of leads each year!

2. This position you as a thought-leader in your industry.

Although you're familiar with the term "thought leader", do you know how to be one? It's easy to answer: great content marketing.

Content marketing allows you to promote your brand with a variety of valuable, authentic content. It takes time and effort, but it will show that you are dedicated to your audience and share your expertise, positioning yourself as a leader within your industry.

3. Content marketing is creative.

Content marketing is a great way to challenge ourselves and think outside of the box. Content marketing allows us to let our imaginations run the show, whether we are creating content calendars and writing blog posts.

Unique, educational and engaging content is what makes the best content. We have the pleasure of helping clients stand out among the rest by creating amazing content. It's exciting for our clients, and we enjoy being part of it.

4. Marketers are committed to quality.

Although writing is easy, it takes some expertise to write well . Not to mention the art of SEO. Google's algorithm favors content that is both well-written and useful for its readers. This means content marketers should focus their efforts on sharing quality content and not filler content designed to rank high in SERPs.

Image Source: Imgflip

5. It answers your audience's questions.

Customers have a lot of options when it comes time to research today's technological advances. Consumers seek out answers before making a purchase decision.

Marketers have a lot to offer their audience through content marketing. You are one step closer to converting them by giving them the information they need through content marketing.

6. Content marketing increases SEO and traffic.

Content marketing is a key component of any SEO strategy. This is because content marketing directly relates to ranking high on SERPs. Organic traffic will follow if you rank high on SERPs.

Google notices when your content is shared via social media and other links. This shows Google that you value your content and leads to a higher rank on Google. It is easy to increase traffic and rankings by doing SEO research. This is what we call "love at first search".

7. It creates trust and credibility between your readers and you.

Trust is the cornerstone of any great relationship, even one with your readers. Content marketing allows for open communication between you, your audience, and helps to build trust within your industry.

Sharing valuable content anywhere customers are looking for information is a great way to improve customer relations. This will show your customers that you are committed to solving their problems, and it will also let them know that you can trust them.

8. It increases your social media presence.

If readers love your content they will share it on social media. Customers who find value in your brand become advocates. Your content will grow your social media presence with patience. This will allow you to reach more people.

9. Content marketing delivers ROI.

Traditional advertising has a limited ROI – TV commercials and billboards won't last forever. Content marketing allows you to keep your content library alive with a few updates and delivers ROI over time.

Image source: Giphy

You can share content on multiple channels and you can do it repeatedly. While content should be updated occasionally, recycling content can also help you to increase your ROI.

10. It supports all digital media.

Content marketing is a great way to reach people. Your content will be shared by the right audience if it is video, blog post, or images.

These days, successful marketing demands clever content. It doesn't matter what type of digital media your content uses, as long as it is unique and interesting.

11. Content marketing can increase brand awareness.

Do you want to spread the word about your brand? Content marketing can help. Google's latest data shows that there are more than 8.5 million searches per day. There are high chances that many of these searches are related to your company's products.

Your brand awareness will increase if you use content to answer your audience’s questions.

Content marketing should be loved, too

Content marketing has many benefits. Content marketing can be used to generate quality leads or to put a creative spin to content. It's one of the most effective ways to increase sales and show love to your target market.

Marketing Insider Group is passionate about creating content that delights your readers and increases your conversion rate. Get started spreading love today! Check out our weekly blog content or book a consultation to get started.

His father Walter Gretzky taught Wayne Gretzky many important lessons as a young hockey player. Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading scorer and holder of 61 records (most of which will never be broken), is often referred to as the greatest hockey player ever. One lesson is "You miss 100 per cent of the shots that you don't take." Marketers know how important it is to plan, execute, and measure the results of campaigns. It is important to do and the saying, "Talk is cheap", demonstrates the importance of taking ACTION.

Wayne's amazing hockey game was marked with keen anticipation and playmaking. He had more assists than total goals and assists than any other player. Wayne was an avid thinker and visualizer, often imagining several plays after the action on the ice. Others reacted in rapid-fire fashion to it. Although it is a cliché, "Skate to the puck's destination, not where it has been" is a very useful marketing tip. We must be ready to respond to changes, anticipating trends and being proactive.

Digital transformation was significantly accelerated by the global pandemic. IDC defines digital maturity and transformation as "using information at center of new business models, using Third Platform technologies (mobile computing big data analytics social media and cloud computing), creating new customer experience and optimizing data-driven decisions-making to transform your company". This has transformed marketing, which was already on the right track to marketing transformation. IDC calls this "digital-first" relationship between technology and business.

Digital-first marketing is a new era. Laurie Buczek is the research vice president of IDC CMO Advisory. She stated that B2B tech buyers are digital-first and digital every step of their buying journey. This is the moment when customer-centric marketing leaders will take on the leadership role of conducting the orchestra. They will design self-service digital experiences and digital sales experiences across connected channels using personalized, connected content. Marketing can orchestrate this, just like Wayne Gretzky who set up many goals with unmatched creativity and insight. This is more true than ever in the age of digital-first B2B advertising.

The analogy of Wayne Gretzky skating to the puck's destination – what should CMOs and their teams do in this digital-first era of B2B marketing? Here are five key points:

• You should adopt a digital-first strategy for marketing. This includes hybrid execution and delivery across all campaigns, tactics, and understanding when and where to use them. Customer experience (CX), while not completely digital, can have variations based on demographics and firmographics. We need to consider that content consumption can be done both online and offline.
• Next-generation customer engagement is possible with consistent messaging, content and value to individual personas and enhanced enablement. In partnership with sales, marketing must take charge of customer experience and lead the customer journey in a way that is unprecedented. IDC's Adaptive Customer Engagement model is a great place to start. It demonstrates the need for alignment between sales and marketing as well as the role of content and value-based thought leadership. This allows you to leverage enablement and world-class orchestration in order to make this happen.

[TAG2]

• Curate digital, outside-in, creative content that delivers value across the customer journey (CX) & experience (CX). This can be done in an on-line or off-line manner, using a hybrid approach. Thought leadership is essential for the buyer's journey. It must provide business value, as I have previously discussed in "Momentum ITSMA Marketing Vision 2022 – The Journey to Thought Leadership Marketing Excellence". LinkedIn research showed that there was a significant increase in thought leadership content, but most of it failed to provide tangible value. It was often focused on the company's goals and not what prospects or customers wanted. Research that helps to establish trustworthiness is key to thought leadership.
• Create and leverage communities and personalize content. Develop and execute social marketing programs and campaigns. Social Media is an important element of the Third Platform! These "watering holes", which are specific to target personas and buying segments, must be identified and used to create and leverage communities and social media campaigns. My friend and colleague Mark Bornstein, Chief Webinerd and VP Marketing at ON24, championed the "Modern Webinar". It was a concept that rose to prominence during the global pandemic. In an age of digital-first, Webinars don't seem to be losing their value or importance.
• It would be remiss not to mention Scott Brinker (the fathers Marketing Technology (MarTech), and Howard Dresner (the mother of Business Intelligence(BI), respectively). They taught me how important and valuable it is to combine technology, analytics, data, and technology. MarTech solutions must be optimized for data- and insight-driven decision-making. Brinker proclaimed the era of "marketing technologists", which is a term that has been embraced by many. Although not everyone needs to be a data scientist, all marketers need to have greater data literacy and comfort with BI and MarTech tools. This is the age of digital-first marketing. Dresner's definition of "data leader" is accurate. Data leadership encompasses all functional areas, with data literacy (and programs), and key success factors.

In a previous era there were many different skills and even teams. Now they are all converging. The next generation of B2B marketing convergence is upon us. Marketing is now a key component of the B2B marketing convergence. Sales and marketing alignment (Account-based, or ABM) are essential to be a leader. We have the best marketing strategy ever. This is possible thanks to a growing and maturing portfolio in Marketing Technology (MarTech). However, we need to optimize what we have and then implement. Marketing is on the forefront of this exciting journey.

It's important to "skate to the puck where it is going, not where it's been." Marketing can be a team sport. Take your best shot, take lessons from others, adjust your orchestration, and learn from them. In this digital-first era, it's even more true than ever!

Many potential clients ask us why we don't just create content.

Most clients are capable of creating great content. Clients know their customers, their industry and their business. Many are also talented writers. We have often scanned potential clients' websites and discovered that they have published many insightful blog posts.

Hence, why would they hire Marketing Insider Group?

Because writing great content is not enough. You need great content to gain Google's attention and gain visibility with your target audience.

All of this is done for our clients and our writers are at center of it all. They deliver smart content on a large scale without sacrificing quality. Each piece is created with the client's customers in mind and designed to increase traffic, leads, conversions, sales, and revenue.

This article will share the secrets to how our writers create great content and ensure it hits the mark. This guide will provide you with the steps-by-step instructions that you need, whether you are thinking of outsourcing your content creation and wondering how it works.

Quick Take-Aways

• When you have multiple projects, templates and outlines can help you to avoid procrastination.
• To get an idea of how to distinguish yours from the rest, you can read all the top-ranked content for your keyword.
• It is best to start with your ideas. The article should be written first. Editing can be done later.
• WordPress and other publishing platforms make it easier to do SEO assessments and final editing.

Five Steps to Success in MIG Content Writing

Step 1: Make your Outlines

Use templates to get you started

Wrapping your head around all the writing projects you have in front of you can be intimidating. This is the step that leads marketers and writers to procrastinate about content production. There's so much to do, where should you begin?

Marketing Insider Group's writers begin with templates and outline to make the writing process easier. Here's how Google Docs works for us:

• Each client receives a folder to keep drafts in progress
• These folders are kept in one large "drafts" folder. Each writer has a separate folder for each client.
• You will find a template document in that folder (pictured below). Simply copy it for every article. Then, move to your right client folder and add the title as well as keywords.

Instead of opening a new document with the dreaded blank page or blinking cursor, you can copy your existing template and then add the basics. You're now technically done with your article.

Marketing Insider Group's Draft Template for Articles

Your outlines should be built

Next, you need to create an outline. You will need to find out what is already available on the first search engine result page (SERP), for your keywords, and how you can improve it.

This requires you to actually read the content and use it to outline your article. This is how it works:

• Google your target keyword as well as your article title
• Every first page result should be opened in a new tab. Many will overlap with keyword and title.
• Every article should be speed-read. For the best articles (which may not necessarily be the most highly-ranked), slow down.
• Noting important information and insights as you go through the content that is available for your keyword.

At this point, your tabs may look a bit crazy — you can open 10-15 tabs at once which makes it overwhelming. However, it is worth reading all the top-ranked content for your keyword at once to get a clearer idea of what you need to cover in your article.

Pro tip: If you are reviewing existing content, you can click on the "Images” tab of the SERP. There you will often find images that have great statistics you can use in your article. These images may lead to higher quality articles than those that were on the SERP.

Once you have read the content related to a keyword, it will be easy to plan how your article should look. You can take the notes that you made while reading and edit them to make an outline of your article. This is where you will want to add your expertise and insights.

Step 2: Create a plan

We recommend that you fill your templates with outlines and outline for all articles on your list before you begin writing.

Here's why: Being able to produce high-quality content and maintain high volumes of content is crucial. You can see which articles take longer or shorter to write, and which are easier for you to manage.

Marketing Insider Group's writers create their outline and list the articles in the order they plan to write them. This list can then be organized into a schedule that you can use to complete all the writing.

You don't have to stick to it, but it is important to do so. You will be more productive if you have a plan and stick to it. Many writers find that this helps them increase their bandwidth and allow them to take on more projects, whether they are writing articles for clients or their passion projects.

Step 3: Write (and don't stop!)

This step will allow you to have completed your outline and templates, as well as your schedule and project order. It's now time to get down to the writing!

Open the outline of your first article. Then, pull up any existing content (yes it all from the first-page SERPs), so you can refer to it as necessary.

Marketing Insider Group writers have one main piece of advice: Write only. After you're done, leave the editing and research to the professionals.

If you have a great idea based on research and knowledge, but need to find a statistic to support it, don't hesitate to search for the stat right away. You can keep your writing flowing by adding a quick note with the "Insert Stat Here" button and highlight it or bold it for later. The same goes for supporting images.

If you feel the need to edit, don't. You don't have to spend an hour editing a paragraph. Instead, you can just write and come back later with a fresh mind.

It's easier to make your articles read as you intended. It's all about getting your ideas across the page.

Step 4: Edit and Finish

After you have finished your first draft, it is possible to go back and improve. Begin by reviewing your content and adding links and statistics. Next, make any necessary edits or rework to the article. Final, go through the article again to ensure it is free from spelling and grammar mistakes.

Step 5: Add internal links and optimize

Optimize your article for SEO. You should start with internal linking. It's best to include at least 4-6 links to other articles you have created within the article. This will create a compounding effect which drives traffic to your content library and improves ranking.

After you have finished linking, make sure to check your article for important SEO points like sentence length and keyword usage. To make final edits, drop your article to WordPress if you are publishing on a platform such as WordPress.

More to you

Writing takes time. There are many ways to make it easy while maintaining a high level of quality. Marketing Insider Group's writers have been able to write for companies of every size and in every industry over the years.

To improve your content strategy, visit our SEO Blog Writing Service. Or schedule a consultation to find out more!

Solid keyword research is an essential part of content marketing. Keyword research can help you bring your customers' voice into your content marketing strategy. This provides a quick and easy way to measure the value of your content. Keyword research is the foundation of all digital marketing.

Keywords are key to your content. The higher your keyword rank, the higher Google will show you in search results. To have a healthy content marketing strategy, it is important to see how your organic search results are performing.

It's not the easiest thing to get views on your website content. Payed advertising can be a great way to increase your impressions of your content marketing efforts. However, it is not a good idea to spend a lot of money on this.

Organic search rankings can be more beneficial than paid advertising for your website traffic, but this is a fact. It's also a more cost-effective way to market your website. It is important to fuel the SEO machine in order to get your content in front your prospects' eyes.

It is important to distinguish between organic and promoted, since they accomplish different goals. However, both can be driven by keyword research.

Quick Takeaways

• SEO for your website and content is key to building organic search rankings
• Keyword research is how to determine what people are searching for in relation your product or service.
• SEO practices will increase your online engagements by creating content that is optimized for search engines.

These are the 5 best keyword research tools that you will ever need. How to use them long term.

1. 
   Semrush
   

This is our main keyword research tool (not a paid endorsement). Semrush allows us research our clients, their competitors, find competitive gaps, and dive into keyword research. Semrush also lets you research paid keywords and site audits.

After identifying the focus keywords of our client, we send them to our editorial team for content ideas and headlines. To create a client visibility tracking report, we also upload them to Semrush. All of our clients receive these reports monthly.

• All keywords that we track have an average visibility in search
• A rough estimate of their organic traffic (be careful).
• Average rank position
• What percentage of keywords are in the top 3, 10, top 20 or top 100? How many have changed or improved?

The competitive review, which shows client visibility versus the competition, is my favorite part of this report. It is a direct reflection on the keyword research that underpins our content strategy.

Semrush can be used to research keywords and websites for your industry, your competitors, or both.

2. 
   Ahrefs
   

Ahrefs has been providing excellent services for SEO professionals and marketers around the globe for more than a decade. They offer a great trial plan and excellent keyword research analysis for the best websites and articles.

They also offer Webmaster Tools as a free service to website owners. My favorite is the Keyword Generator, which generates 150 keywords ideas for any keyword.

3. Keywordtool.io

Keyword.io's free keyword research service boasts a 99.9% success ratio. It's so free that you don’t even have to create an account in order to access its extensive database. Their site says:

Keyword Tool allows you to use Google Suggest for keyword search. It will extract Google keyword suggestions from Google and present them to you in an easily-understand interface.

4. 
   Google Keyword Finder
   

You might have guessed that we would get to the largest source of keyword research, Google's keyword searcher. Google is the market leader in keyword research, and you will soon be a result of their search engine results.

Although it's not as intuitive as other tools, it is completely free and provides all the information you need to make informed decisions about your SEO practices.

5. 
   Moz
   

Moz was the first tool that I used to research keywords. It is great for analysing your website and identifying keywords. Moz helps you to understand how people find your website, and how to make use of keywords.

Other Keyword Research Tools

• Google Trends not only shows you the relative volume for multiple keywords, but also provides trend data to help you see what's hot and what's not.
• QuestionDB uses reddit and related queries to identify question-based keywords
• Jaaxy offers keyword, topic, and idea suggestions for any keyword.
• Keyword Sheeter uses Google Autofill to populate thousands ideas from any focus keyword that you enter
• Answer the Public uses Google autofill and People Also Ask to populate search terms with all the who-what, why, how, when and where versions of any query.
• Keyworddit pulls data directly from reddit, and provides interesting perspectives on topics you can explore for any keyword.
• Bulk Keyword Generator is an excellent research tool for local SEO
• Soovle uses search data sourced from Google, YouTube and Amazon
• SECockpit, the SEO tool that SEO professionals swear by, provides a lot of depth.
• Keyword Snatcher offers up to 2,000 keyword ideas for any "seed keyword" (as SEOs refer to them).
• KWFinder lets you search by keyword difficulty
• Serpstat, another tool that allows for deep dives and is loved by many SEO professionals, is another tool.

What is new in keyword research?

Our first step is to ask our clients a few simple questions:

1. They wished to rank for 5-10 keywords
2. They consider the most important topics, categories or themes in their industry.
3. The top 4-5 competitors
4. Their audience may read 2-4 trade publications from their industry.

We can then expand the keyword list. These keywords are then grouped into categories or themes. We then identify the most important keywords, or "focus", by examining whether they are short-tail or long-tail and whether they have clear buyer intent.

CPC data is my favorite tool to find keywords that people are spending money on. This assumes that people won't pay more for advertising against keywords if they have lots of value.

BONUS – This and other keyword research tips and tools can be found in my webinar 10 tips to optimize your content marketing.

This video provides a more basic training in keyword research.

Conversion rates based on your keyword research

While views are wonderful, what happens once the initial click is made? Are they just browsing your site? Is the reader sharing your website? Are they buying your product?

The conversion rate is a measure of how many prospects become customers. This metric will be the defining metric of your content marketing efforts. Your top goal in content marketing should be to convert prospects.

Many times, the places you produce and publish media can provide you with excellent analytics tools that will help you determine which ads or content are converting the most.

You can make informed and better decisions about what media you want to use by determining what content is most successful across which platforms.

Keep your customers as long-term clients

Source: Marketing charts

Customer retention is the percentage of customers that continue to use your product over time. This can be measured using keywords. Other companies use to measure retention. The percentage of customers that leave within a certain time frame.

The only way a company will succeed is if it can attract and retain customers at a cost that is minimal or negligible compared to the return on investment of that customer (about 3-5x this cost).

How can you tell if your digital media efforts are retaining customers? There are a few options!

Analytics – Often websites will display on the backend how many of your customers are repeat customers. It is a great way to reach your KPIs by digging into the additional layer and seeing how many of your digital media efforts are responsible.

Ask – Using surveys in your email marketing efforts to find out who is using your product or service for a longer time can help you determine. It builds trust and brand loyalty because people want to feel that you care about them.

Take a look at the voices on your social channels – Seeing the individual voices of your business community discussing your content, business, and service can help you get a better idea of how many customers you have, as well as if you have any older clients influencing the conversation online.

Wrap up

Keyword research is essential for generating reliable search traffic to your site, regardless of which website you use. You're wasting money on easy traffic that will make you money by not using good SEO practices in your writing and meta descriptions.

Now that you have the knowledge, it is time to jump onboard with one of these keyword research tools.

You want to implement some of the strategies shown on MIG's website but need advice or help? Marketing Insider Group is home to a group of 35+ writers who are ready to create content for your business. Get a consultation or check out our blog content.

Is your brand using a content strategy? If the answer is no, then your content strategy may be disjointed from both your perspective and that of your audience.

The foundation of all your content depends on pillar content. It is focused on the most important topics that you and your audience are interested in and establishes your industry expertise to potential customers, search engine crawlers and industry peers.

This article will cover all aspects of creating a content-pillar strategy that works. We'll explain what it is and how to create it. And we'll show you the benefits that you'll get from having one in place.

Are you ready to jump in? Let's get started.

Quick Takeaways

• 
  Pillar content provides a comprehensive guideline on a topic that is important to your audience.
  
• 
  Pillar content has an evergreen nature. It is reusable over time and can be used to generate compounding returns.
  
• 
  Before you can develop a content strategy, brands must first understand their audience.
  
• 
  Boosting pillar content across multiple channels (like email and social media) creates momentum after it is published.
  
• 
  Pillar content should be regularly updated to reflect industry trends.
  

What is pillar content? Why do you need it?

Pillar content is a comprehensive guide for a topic that is important to you and your audience. The content is extensive and lengthy, and it answers any questions the reader may have about the topic. It also tells them all they need to know.

Rand Fishkin, former CEO of Moz, coined the term "10X Content" for pillar content. It should be 10X more valuable than the current highest-ranking piece on the topic.

Image Source: Ceralytics

10X better?! This sounds daunting. How can you make something better than the content already on Google SERPs? It takes time and effort, so pillar content should only be reserved for topics that are most important to your brand.

It is important to create pillar content on topics that you have a strong brand authority. A strong pillar content library will be the foundation for all the niche and long-tail content that you create.

Your pillar content, in other words, is the root of your content tree. You can grow a large content library with many branches, but your blog's pillar content keeps it performing at a high standard.

Let's take a look at a step-by -step guide for creating pillar content on your company blog.

7 Steps to Create a Content Pillar Strategy

Know your audience

Who is the audience for which you are creating content? This is the most important question to ask yourself when you are creating (or revising) your content strategy. It is essential to understand your audience before you can choose the right content pillars.

You could also skip this step and end up creating content that your audience doesn’t need.

How can you get to know your audience better? There are many proven methods that you can use to get to know your audience. One of the most well-known frameworks is buyer personas.

Once you have identified your target audience, it is time to determine their pain points. Your audience's pain points are the real problems or challenges they face and that motivate them to search for your solutions. Remember that users don't care what solution you choose as long as they solve their pain points.

In other words, If your Google SERPs rank high, people will see your content first and realize that you can solve their problems. They'll also be more likely choose you over other competitors.

Strategyzer's Value Proposition Canvas is one of the best tools to discover your audience's problems. Here's how you can use it.

Select your content pillars

Next, you need to decide on your content pillars. The pillar topics you choose will be easy to identify once you have a clear understanding of your audience and their needs. The number of topics you choose depends on how big your company is and what your offerings are.

It's best to have 3-5 content pillars for small to medium-sized companies. Never more than 10. Your content pillar strategy will remain focused on the most important topics for your audience (and eventually the subtopics). While you will still have a large and varied content library, it will remain consistent.

Search engines can recognize topics you are an expert in and rank your content accordingly.

Do keyword research

After you have established your content pillars you need to do keyword research to find out how your audience searches for your pillar topics. It is important to match your focus keywords for pillar material with the Google search bar queries. This will help you achieve high Google rankings.

SEMRush's Keyword Magic Tool makes keyword research easier than ever. You can download it for free.

Create titles for your pillar content

When your content appears in their SERP pages, the blog article titles is what people first see. It's the first thing people see when your content appears on their SERP pages.

How can you make compelling titles? These are some suggestions:

• Use numbers and questions (ex. "8 Steps to Creating a Perfect Blog Post" is better than "Creating the Perfect Blog Post".
• Value — In the title, explain to your readers what you expect from them.
• You don't have to be serious. Our blog post Personas are Great (Except when They Suck), has received lots of attention due to its attention-grabbing snark.
• Include your key words. It's what got users to your site in the first place.
• Be concise. Google SERPs will only display the first 50-60 characters in your title.

Once you have titles created, add them in your content calendar to ensure you are on time for publishing them.

Make amazing content

Let's get to the fun part — creating your content. While most brands think of pillar content in the format of blog posts which can be very effective, you can also make infographics and videos to rank as pillar material.

Creativity is key! Consider what is most valuable to your audience and then go in that direction. You don't have to be boring. MIG, for example, has started to add more shareable infographics to our pillar blog posts (like the one below on How to Create the Perfect Blog Post).

Image Source: Marketing Insider Group

Amplify your pillar content across channels

If you want your content to be successful, it is crucial to include a plan to increase your content in your pillar content strategy. To give traffic an extra boost, share your pillar content via other channels.

Sharing ideas: Your company's social media pages, employee social networks pages, email newsletters and links in email signatures.

Update your pillar content regularly

Keep your pillar content current. Every industry changes and evolves over time. Your content should reflect current best practices and key information that people need to know. Marketing Insider Group provides an example of this in the SEO articles that we create for our blog.

An SEO strategy pillar piece would look very different in ten years ago than it does today. Google ranking factors, best practice, industry norms and audience behavior all have changed over the years. We must update our pillar pieces to reflect these changes in order to keep them performing.

Benefits of Pillar content for your brand

Traffic compounding

Pillar content is more timeless than news or niche content. Pillar content is timeless and relevant for a long period of time. It also has a longer shelf life than articles written for other topics. They will continue to attract traffic over time. This traffic will increase as more people share your content.

Google Rankings Higher

Google's algorithms are more sophisticated than ever. They are no longer searching for keyword-stuffed content. They instead identify the articles that offer genuine value to those who are searching for information about that topic.

You can expect higher Google rankings for your pillar content if it is current, comprehensive, and of high value.

Authority in branding

Your brand authority is established through strong pillar content libraries. Through pillar content, people build trust in your brand and begin to actively seek out your content when they have questions.

Pillar content is also trusted by industry peers, which means it will bring you more backlinks (and therefore more traffic) than other content.

Killer Pillar Content Examples

The Atlantic makes the population healthier

This page from The Atlantic will be on almost every list of high-quality pillar content examples if you do a search. This content will take you on a journey through Massachusetts to learn about one city and the ways they made their citizens healthier. Population Healthier's design makes it easy to understand and leaves a lasting impression.

It is a beautiful design that makes the content a strong pillar. But it's also because of the quality content. Lowell MA's study is timeless. While the future may not be known, the process of moving from point unhealthy to point health will continue to apply.

How to Create a Content Style Manual by Impact

This example from Impact shows how pillar content can be made more accessible. To write quality content, you don't necessarily need to be a graphic designer major.

The author clearly explains what you will learn in each pillar piece from the beginning. You don't have to waste your time looking through the outline if it doesn't contain what you need. The outline even lists who each pillar is and why.

Impact provides actionable tips and explanations on how to create a content style guide.

Battle of the Bots by HubSpot

This HubSpot Battle of the Bots page, a graphic design masterpiece, tackles a technical topic. It is easy to get lost in the technical world of tech. HubSpot makes it easy to understand bots by explaining them in laymen's terms using real-life examples. It is also timely, providing insight into the current state of technology and the direction that it is heading.

They make it enjoyable! An army of robots will be with you every step of your journey.

What exactly is wine? Wine Folly

To create pillar content, you don't need to be a marketer! Wine Folly's example is a great way to explain the core values of the wine industry. Although the article is broad at the beginning, you will find more information as you scroll down.

These pages cover all aspects of wine grapes vs table grapes, the contents of a wine bottle, and even taste descriptors. This page is for anyone who has ever felt confused by a server asking if they would like to order a sweet or dry wine.

Wine Folly is a fun company that keeps things interesting through their pillar content. You can even send memes to someone you know from Wine Folly.

Create Your Brand's Pillar Content Strategy Today

Great content is the foundation of a great pillar content strategy. This content takes experience and time to create. You may not be able to create pillar content that is relevant to your business. Marketing Insider Group's SEO and writer experts can provide optimized content that is ready to be published every week for a year or more.

To learn more, visit our SEO Blog Writing Service or to schedule a consultation with me to get going!

Black Friday is the day retailers finally see profit after months of stocking inventory and slow summer sales. As we approach the holiday shopping season, the fall season is an ideal time for ecommerce businesses to increase word-of-mouth awareness as well as sales.

These are some statistics that show the current state of holiday shopping season.

• E-commerce is responsible for more than 20% in total U.S. retail sales during the holiday season.
• 40% of holiday shoppers started shopping before November.
• Over a third of Americans purchased online during Black Friday/Cyber Monday, compared with just under a third (100,000,000) who went to stores.
• Online sales reached $211 Billion in 2o21. This is an increase of 10% compared to 2020 and more than half compared to 2019.

Marketers, founders, and owners of e-commerce cannot wait until Black Friday to start building awareness. It is smart to begin now in order to prepare for the holiday season, and to automate all of the tasks you should have been doing throughout the year. Content marketing!

We'll be sharing 8 tips that you can use to grow your holiday season.

Tip #1: Reach Out To Your Best Customers

You can tap into the power and pleasure of customer delight by mobilizing your top customers. Customer delight is about creating amazing experiences for customers who love you and spend a lot.

Customer delight means doing more than just providing excellent customer service. The delight part is about surprising customers with something new. We send our clients a box filled with locally-sourced specialty chocolates. The fun pun is on the content.

John & Kira's is the company that fulfilled this gift. They just sent my wife and me a sample box of chocolates. We used them last holiday season to give as gifts. Smart! Smart!

How can customer delight be used to increase word-of-mouth sales in the fall ahead of the holiday season?

If you're an e-commerce company, 20% of your customers will account for 80% (the 80-20 rule). The first step is to identify the top 20% of your customers. This is easy – it's just data. Next, you'll want to identify your most happy customers.

It may be worth looking at customers who have given you reviews or sent you thank you letters. To find out who you love the most, you could also consider repeat customers or recurring customers.

You can then create a list of your top customers and send something to them. You could send them a sample of your product or some chocolate. You might also include gift ideas for the holiday season. You could even send a thank you note to them for their business in the past – they don't do that anymore.

Include a handwritten note to thank them for being such a loyal customer. If they don't mind giving you a review, you might ask them to do so. You could also tell a friend how much you love them, or give them a coupon code. Whatever motivates them to take action on your behalf. It's important to say thank you to them for being awesome and then ask them to do something.

Bonus: Write about your process, and make it a customer-pleasing campaign. It can be shared on your blog or on social media. Make a TikTok about the gift-giving process. You want the world to know that you appreciate your loyal customers and would love to invite others to join this small community.

Tip #2: Encourage your employees to share your content

Employees are a great resource for word-of mouth. You can ask them to share and write content, but don't force it. Ask them to be internal ambassadors for the brand. However, if they don't feel comfortable sharing press releases or product promotions with others, ask them not to.

This is why you want to hire people who are interested in this job! Why would employees want to do this job? It helps them create their own brand. It is important to create content that people want to share. These stories can be customer delight stories (see above), insider coupon codes or bring your dog to work days. All these stories encourage word-of mouth conversations about your brand.

Be careful. You must be 100% authentic.

Bonus: Create a campaign around this idea that your employees can share. You can make it a contest or create a leaderboard. You can reward the most influential ambassadors by asking them to use a unique number for all the content they share. To show the world how cool your company is, share your campaign story.

Double Bonus Read our complete guide on managing an ecommerce blog. You can also check out our weekly blog content service, which will drive traffic to your site all year!

Tip #3: Host Weekly Live Social Media Events

Although social media is not enough to drive your business, it's worth exploring the possibility of hosting live events on social media. These events can showcase your personality and humor, and help you tell your story. Facebook Live events are a great way to increase word-of mouth by providing fresh content that your followers and customers can watch and take part in.

Facebook Live gained popularity in the last five years and brands are starting to notice. Over the past few years, TikTok and Instagram reels have seen a surge in popularity. Every week, businesses are getting more active on Facebook Live, Instagram, and TikTok in order to promote their products and answer customers' questions.

These platforms are great for businesses that have not yet tried them. You can create a creative campaign that is tied to your live events. These platforms are used by some companies to announce new products and throw virtual parties. Some companies use it to host Q&As with customers or industry leaders. For the remainder of the year, you should create a campaign that makes you live on social media once per week.

Bonus:Don’t use these platforms for just promoting or demoing your products. That would be boring. Enjoy more of the experience and be more playful with them.

Tip #4: Use holiday-themed graphics

Image source: Crestline

Use holiday-themed graphics to get your website visitors and subscribers excited about the holiday season. These are the most common places to update:

• Your website homepage hero section
• Cover photo for Facebook
• Cover photo for Twitter
• Your blog rss email header
• Your next custom email campaign
• Your banner and Facebook ads
• Your product pages
• Your website's header or banner section

Bonus: Add your holiday-themed graphics and promotions to a holiday event or promotion that your customers, visitors, subscribers, and clients can benefit from.

Tip #5 – Partner with another company

Partnering with a company that shares your mission and products is another creative way to increase sales. This was the case for this shady holiday partnership between Lyft and Tinder last year

Although this idea will require more planning and investment, it can drive serious word of mouth and ultimately ROI for your company if you put in the effort.

This is how it works: Find a company with whom you can collaborate on a product. Reach out to other companies or brands in your industry to ask if they are interested in producing a small quantity of products for you to sell in your stores. This is a way to (1) increase your customer base and (2) drive urgency by offering limited quantities of the product that you have collaborated on.

Bonus: Make an agreement with your partner before you start to promote and market the product. You should ensure that both parties are investing equal amounts of effort and money in getting word out about your product.

Tip #6 – Launch a Giveaway

To launch a huge giveaway for your ecommerce store, you can use a tool such as Gleam. You can't give away just one product to make your giveaway a success. You need to think larger. You can generate excitement and word-of mouth by giving away a prize package you can afford to only one person. Don't give away $20 products that no one can afford, but a $500 gift that some people may not be able to buy for themselves.

If you are a seller of travel bags, offer a complimentary stay at a resort. Offer a weekend getaway to a spa to makeup sellers. People will share your contest with their friends and family members if you are more ambitious than they think.

Participants can enter your giveaway by either entering their email address or using their Facebook account. Participants can get additional entries by taking any actions you have planned for your giveaway. You can ask a question on a landing page or website, share the contest on Facebook and Twitter, or email a referral link to a friend.

Bonus: Before you launch your giveaway, take some time to think about how you will promote it. Send an email to your subscribers? Create a blog post on it. Create a Facebook ad? Ask for help from vendors, partners and businesses in the industry. You risk investing too much time, energy and money in promotion that doesn't work.

Tip #7 – Prepare for Cyber Monday & Black Friday

If you have been in the ecommerce industry for over one year, then you are likely to have seen the ugly and good parts of Cyber Monday and Black Friday. You can use your past experiences and the data from last year's efforts to create a new strategy you can put into practice this year.

Bonus If you don't know where to begin, take some time browsing this resource from Shopify. This checklist contains 26 points that you can use for preparing your store or business for Black Friday or Cyber Monday.

Tip #8 – Promote products as gifts

Promote your products as gifts to different people to increase product awareness. Gift guides are very popular this time of year. Everyone is looking for the perfect gift for their parents, siblings, brothers, girlfriends, bosses, and boyfriends. Your products can be made easy by being positioned as the perfect gift for _____. Create gift guides on your blog to promote your products as gifts that appeal to certain people. You can also launch Facebook ads to target people who might buy your products for gifts.

Bonus – To have even greater success, contact other editors of blogs who created gift guides for 2016, and see if they can add your products to their lists for 2023.

More to you

What other things can you do to increase brand awareness and sales this fall? Comment below.

In 1995, the average consumer used two touchpoints to purchase an item.

What is that number? Six.

How can retailers keep up with today's consumer demands? Adopting an omnichannel retail strategy.

The long answer is much more entertaining. Keep reading. We must first look back at the past to understand the current state of retail. What was the strategy of big retailers? How do the pros keep up?

The Key Takeaways:

• 
  Omnichannel retail marketing doesn't mean being everywhere you want to be. It's more about being there your customers are
  
• 
  Customers are demanding the best of companies today. This customer-centric approach is essential to survival
  
• 
  Omnichannel approaches are more efficient, effective, and still profitable
  

What's the history of omnichannel retail advertising?

In recent years, the importance of the retail store has changed significantly. Despite all the advances in e-commerce and online shopping, as well as instant delivery and flexible store environments and flexible store environments, customers still visit retail stores to conduct research and wanderlust.

In the early 2000s, the dot-com bubble burst, launching us into an age of technological innovation and mere oblivion. Retailers tried to keep up with the pace. Companies capitalized on their strengths in order to keep up with the increasing competition from online sellers.

They made their physical spaces larger and taller.

What is single-channel retail?

Single channel retail refers to the use of a single channel to sell, market, and communicate with customers. There are two types of brick-and-mortar retail: online and offline.

These businesses are still available, even though Jeff Bezos isn't in the middle of the action. Some might even succeed!

They come with their own benefits and drawbacks, as does everything else. Let's take a look at them for a second.

Benefits

• Centralized information
• One warehouse
• Streamlined communication
• Lower overhead costs
• Predictable expenses
• Focus on strengths and sales growth to drive sales growth
• Maximize control over a saturated market

Single channel retailers profit from being the best at what their business does. If their company is able to stand out and keep their product's authority source, they might be able to coast for a while in a saturated market.

Each department or team may be able track sales data more easily, predict inventory levels, and maintain consistency in their marketing efforts by using one channel.

Reaching customers and keeping them happy is easy if they are all in the same place.

Wrong! They still have a lot of noise to consider and many realize it before it's too late.

Limitations

• Digital age is here NOW
• Shoppers have less flexibility and convenience
• Less consumer touch-points

Companies had to think about the ease of shopping for customers long before the internet boom. They had to be agile and use their strengths in order to keep up with their competition.

You had to be confident that customers would drive past you on their daily commutes if you owned a shop or chain. Even before the advent of distractions, people's lives were always busy. Relying on one touchpoint to reach consumers was bound for failure.

Others didn't make it, such as the beloved Toys R Us children's shop.

Toys R Us was an example of how many companies could not compete in the digital space and instead tried to maximize their physical presence. Digital marketing tools and landing page replaced the in-store sales representatives who were considered 'experts'.

Some were building websites, buying domains, and then crash-couching their way into the ecommerce world overnight. We all know this is not an easy task, even today.

These were single channel retailers in a multichannel environment.

Multichannel retailing is on the rise

Multichannel retailing means that you can use as many channels as you like and have them all managed separately.

Yikes. This will get really messy very quickly.

But I'm not trying to ruin anyone's day. This could be a good idea for you. It could be a great idea in theory.

Benefits

• Expanding their reach can help retailers sell more products.
• Stay on top of digital advances
• Each channel strategy should be managed separately

Do you want more money? Nice. You are adapting to the times. Keep up the excellent work. How can you manage the different channels' strategies? Don't panic.

I hope that you think the same way as I do. What does this mean for the customer?

If you are all over the place, it is foolish to believe that customers will believe what you have to offer.

Let's now discuss why this won't work.

Limitations

• A retail-centric mindset can lead to gaps in customer experience
• Lacks a strategy and message that is cross-channel
• There is a disconnect between brick-and mortar and e-commerce strategies
• Multi-warehouse management results in supply-demand gaps
• Data accuracy and consistency problems

You're only solving a fraction if you go into this strategy expecting to make a lot of money and solve your crisis of disconnect.

It shouts:

• "Look at my product!"

• "Give me all your money!"

• "We are sorry for any inconvenience/delay/misunderstanding."

Some critics claim that Omnichannel was not born of multichannel and is a distinct entity.

Multichannel retail is a concept middleman in the transition to the desired omnichannel experience we all should strive for.

What can we learn from the evolution in retail? We will show you why Omnichannel is the clear winner and why it isn't going anywhere.

Here to stay: Omnichannel retail marketing

Omnichannel refers to the use of multiple channels to sell, buy, deliver and market goods to customers. Omnichannel retailers use both offline and online spaces to satisfy their customers' demands and needs.

There are many similarities between multichannels and omnichannels, but omnichannel is a superior channel because of the increased integration between channels.

Customer-centricity is the key to an authentic omnichannel retail marketing strategy. Your customers must be able to experience the same brand experience at every touchpoint. Channels should be friends and not enemies.

This means seamless experiences for consumers and retailers when they use online and offline channels. For retailers, it means one platform that integrates digital and physical options.

Omnichannel AND omnipotent

There is no one right or wrong way to beat it in an Omnichannel game. That's what makes it so much fun! Explore your options.

Some may be more focused on ecommerce to sell their goods, while others may rely more on their brick-and mortar network.

While you might make most of your income online, you can still use a brick and mortar showroom to sell your products.

Peloton is a digital fitness platform that also produces stationary bikes and is a prime example of an omnichannel approach.

Peloton's consistent presence on Instagram, their cult-like following, or the physical showcase rooms they have set up in malls is proof of that. They are there to help their customers, and make it easy and accessible for them.

A brick-and-mortar or mall-based retailer can also use online and mobile channels to sell its goods.

Sephora, a beauty connoisseur that sells countless brands of makeup, hair and skincare online, is one company that excels at this task. They seamlessly combine the in-store and online experiences.

They have knowledgeable makeup artists and salespeople who are available to give advice, makeovers and suggest products. Need help from experts but can't make it to the store?

Customers can track their online purchases, view tutorials, scan items in-store, make a wishlist, and more with their Beauty Bag accounts.

Companies must be innovative and creative. Companies must think about customer experience in all they do.

The best omnichannel strategy

Omnichannel is here to stay. Your retail business is not connecting with customers through multiple channels or unifying customer interaction between offline and online.

Are you still not convinced? These stats will convince you.

• A 287% higher buy rate was achieved by marketers who used three or more channels in a campaign than those who only used one channel
• Retention rates for customers are 90% higher when they use omnichannels than single channels
• 71% of shoppers who use their smartphones to research in-store for shopping say it has become an integral part of their experience
• 90% of customers want consistent interactions across channels

Here are some things you can do to ensure you don't suffer from this opportunity cost and win at the omnichannel game.

Incorporate your approach

It's not about connecting with customers on a variety of media. Success in Omnichannel is about integrating strategies to create a cohesive whole.

The omnichannel strategy can be viewed as a single strategy that brings together all members of your team and ensures everyone is on the same page.

Only a concerted effort can ensure smooth transitions between channels and consistency between stock levels on- and off-line, as well as a seamless customer experience through the entire lifecycle. This is why you need to ensure that you have the resources and ability to deliver it.

Plan your journey

Maybe a friend refers a customer to your products. They may follow you on social media to stay up to date with new products and offers, and they might be pleasantly surprised to find an online sale for seasonal products.

They look through your online inventory and add items to their carts, but they don't make the purchase. They visit your store in passing, make the purchase, and then re-engage via your after-sales support emails.

This is how the consumer experience works in an omnichannel world. Each journey is unique.

Use feedback loops to reach customers and find out where they are at each stage of the process. This information can then be used to map and understand the journey. It is impossible to improve anything unless you know it. Make sure that knowledge and action are the primary components of your Omnichannel Strategy.

Exceed expectations

It is impossible to surprise your customers with omnichannel technology and reap the rewards. Customers have high expectations, and they are rightfully so.

While you cannot please every customer, you can make them happy. Today, 90% of consumers want an omnichannel experience. Consumers want to be able shop online and pick it up in stores, or to browse helpful articles to make sure they are making the right buying decision.

Before your customers get to you, they need you to be there. You must be friendly and helpful. You must answer their questions, compare product benefits and be honest about whether your products are better suited to their needs.

According to Oracle's 2021 retail consumer survey report, the top answer was not surprising when we asked about a bad shopping experience online or offline.

You must be open to sharing your knowledge if you want to stand out among the rest. This doesn't mean that you should be proud of your product, but rather how you can help customers meet their needs.

More to you

The omnichannel game is won by going the extra mile and providing a positive experience for every interaction. Keep your company at the forefront of the race, and look into every channel for possible solutions.

You want to implement some of the content marketing strategies shown on MIG's website but need advice or help? Marketing Insider Group is home to a group of 35+ writers who are ready to create content for your business. Get a consultation or check out our blog content.

Marketing is all about maximizing your return on investment. You may reach a point in your marketing where your ROI is not as high as you would like. You need to find new ways to increase the effectiveness and performance your marketing strategies.

It is not uncommon for ROI to plateau at some point. A stable ROI can sometimes be a positive thing. It is nice to have reliable numbers. However, a consistent ROI does not necessarily mean an optimized one. If you don't test different methods to get more from every campaign, you could be wasting a lot of money.

These marketing tactics can help you increase your ROI

Which tactics can increase your marketing ROI? These are five tips that you may not be using today.

1. Develop retention marketing strategies.

Retaining customers is five times cheaper than replacing them. Retention marketing can be a great way to make a profit.

There are many ways to keep buyers happy so that they make more purchases and become referral sources. Targeted "abandonment recovery strategies" can be used to encourage customers to shop with you again. Retention.com, an email marketing company that helps e-commerce companies recover abandoned cart revenue, claims that re-engaging customers who have left your site may result in a 10x increase in revenue. Why? You can lead them back to your brand in a personal way.

A way to reduce customer churn is to create exclusive communities. To keep customers engaged and excited, many companies offer opt in membership options. You can also increase retention by offering perks such as special deals or member-only coupons.

2. Every content piece has a value.

Marketing content will always require money. Despite this, content should not be "one-and-done." You need to squeeze every last bit of value from each marketing asset.

Consider videos as an example. Many marketers don’t make the most of their videos. They know videos can lead to higher ROI for 87% of marketers. They don't always think of all the possible uses for videos. A single FAQ-style video can be broken down so that each FAQ can be published independently. A video transcript can be made into a blog article.

Financial responsibility requires that you get a lot of value from every piece of collateral. Do not be afraid to look at your marketing materials to see if you can use them as a basis for future articles or emails.

3. Use the 80-20 rule to narrow your audience.

Although not perfect, the Pareto principle is generally accurate. The Pareto principle states that 20% of your customers will make up 80% of your income. You need to identify those 20% customers and make sure you get at least 80% of your marketing efforts in front of them.

How do you find customers that fall within the 20% sweet spot? Talk to your sales team about your KPIs. Try to create customer personas for each consumer that represents 20%. Once you have these personas, you can use them to determine how, when and where you should introduce them to your brand using marketing strategies.

Perhaps you are used to creating marketing campaigns like PPC campaigns that appeal more people. You might be concerned that this marketing strategy won't generate enough leads. While your overall lead number may decrease, your qualified leads should increase. Qualified leads are going to lead to a greater ROI.

4. Automate repetitive tasks

Marketing departments often have the same problem than other departments: They rely heavily on manual processes. These manual processes can include data transfer by hand, or multiple systems integration. Repetitive tasks are a waste of time and money that can negatively impact your ROI.

Automation gives you and your team the ability to reap the benefits of efficiency at large scale. A variety of cloud-based, AI-enabled tech stacks are capable of performing basic repetitive tasks. You only need to set them up so they run according to specific parameters.

You can be more creative when you aren't weighed down by the minutiae of moving data to a database. Many marketers feel that they don't have the time to express their creative side. Automating more of your tasks could give you the push you need to create profitable and successful campaigns.

5. Be selective about the social media platforms you prefer.

It's clear that social media marketing is essential. Social media allows consumers from all generations to connect with one another and companies. Social media platforms allow you to sell directly through social media, which makes them even more effective marketing tools.

But here's the truth: Not every social media site belongs to your company. Let's say you sell mostly to 50+ customers. TikTok is fun and interesting, but it can detract from your ROI. Facebook and YouTube may offer more value for your buck.

Mastering social media marketing requires that you choose the right platforms to reach your target audience and sell what you offer. It is a good idea to check out the top 10 competitors on a particular site to determine if you are a good fit. Low engagement could indicate a poor social fit. High engagement could indicate that they are gaining ROI, which can be a good sign for you.

Each budget cycle, you are only allowed a limited amount of marketing dollars. Your ROI will determine how easy it is to request a larger budget the next time.

"Strategy without tactics is a dream; tactics without strategy, it's a nightmare."

Sun Tzu's quote inspired this quote. It implies that there is a clear distinction between marketing strategy, and marketing tactics.

This suggests that you can't do one without the other and strategy must be first. It is the foundation.

However, marketing strategy can refer to two things: the "strategy," or position, by which your brand will be taken to market, and how your company will actually create a brand that will be taken to market.

This is the second definition. It describes what your marketing department should do to make the most of the marketing dollars, time and energy they have.

BOON: These 10 tips will help you optimize your b2b marketing strategy.

The Best B2B Marketing Strategies

A new report gathered data from hundreds of B2B marketers professionals to reveal the majority of B2B marketing departments across the country. This post will show you how B2B marketers plan, execute, and budget their marketing programs. You can make sure that your strategy is in line with your competitors or even ahead in 2022.

1. Make a formal marketing plan
2. Partner with a Marketing Agency
3. Use Retainer vs. Project Contracts
4. Spend 10% on Marketing
5. Take into account Account-Based Marketing
6. The Rise of Mobile
7. Embrace Automation and Martech
8. Visual Content
9. Big Data can help you harness the power of big data
10. Make More Relevant Content
11. Go Multichannel
12. Establish strategic marketing objectives
13. Find a senior marketing advocate
14. Develop and invest in Marketing ROI Metrics
15. Develop relationships with IT and Finance
16. Make sure your content addresses the customer journey
17. Design a brand identity
18. Establish and maintain ongoing partnerships with sales
19. Learn Digital Marketing and Technology Skills
20. Interactive Marketing Campaigns
21. Concentrate on the Buyer

[Check out our weekly blog and annual b2b marketing strategy. ]

1. Make a formal marketing plan

A significant shift in the B2B marketing mix report shows that more B2B marketers are using formal plans to help guide their branding and marketing. 66% of B2B marketers used a formal marketing plan in the past year. This allows them to take a more proactive and strategic approach to their tactics than a reactive and sporadic approach to the market.

There are many differences between a tactical and strategic marketing plan. The strategic marketing plan, as we are referring to it, includes market research and a situation analysis.

Your marketing agency or an internal committee can help you identify your top five-10 competitors and then conduct a SWOT analysis. To find the whitespace, cross-reference the SWOTs of your competitors with your own analysis to discover areas where there are significant gaps in the market or strengths that only you can bring to the table.

This information will help you create a brand strategy that communicates the unique characteristics of your brand.

2. Partner with a Marketing Agency

63% of B2B marketers report using a content marketing agency to handle some or all of their marketing program.¹ For small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that can't afford to build out an entire marketing department in-house, complete with strategic marketers, certified specialists and subscriptions to the various tools and platforms that make a marketing program run, an agency is often the way to go. SMBs have access to high-quality marketing capabilities and resources, as well as the ability to use their internal resources more efficiently through agency marketing.

"Between traditional, digital and inbound methods, there are an amazing number of moving parts. The real art lies not in understanding each tool's best use, but in how they work together. One of the report's publishers said that this requires an agency with a special kind of harmony and individual expertise.

3. Use Retainer vs. Project Contracts

According to the B2B Marketing Mix Report, the majority of outsourced marketing efforts are carried out via retainers. This is because digital marketing programs are long-term and continuous.

SEO (search engine optimization) is a technique that helps your company rank higher in search engines by increasing its visibility in unpaid results. Ranking in search results does not happen overnight.

It involves ongoing technical work such as website optimization as well as local SEO. This is the process of using a company’s geographic location to rank a local business higher than its competitors.

SEO programs are all about link building, keyword research and optimizing copy. However, this is only for projects that have a clear start and finish, such as creating a brand strategy or a website. Retainer contracts are best for implementing a comprehensive marketing program that includes digital.

4. Spend 10% on Marketing

Marketers and senior leadership have different opinions about the goals of the marketing organization. Marketing should be cost-effective to attract customers. This is the expectation of the management team. Marketers believe that it is more important for marketers to concentrate on creating and executing strategies that will increase brand awareness and positioning.

Senior leaders expect marketers to show ROI from their marketing efforts. However, this can be difficult for marketers who feel they don't have the right tools. Other marketers feel that senior management should be more focused on customer insight than on pricing and products.

Marketing leaders are often asked the same question: "How much should we spend on marketing?" This report was compiled by hundreds of marketing executives and found that 10% to 10% of a yearly marketing budget is the magic number.

The report shows that businesses are spending 10% or more on marketing, an increase of 5% over last year. This is a reflection of the priorities of leaders who face greater competition online and offline. To achieve advanced and automated marketing strategies, personalization, interactive material, and new user experience requirements, a larger portion of a company's budget is required. The report identified that the top three strategic areas in which marketers spent that 10% were website development, digital marketing, and tradeshows, events. This is in addition to the marketing staff and agency partnerships.

5. Take into account Account-Based Marketing

Account-Based Marketing (ABM), is a method of tailoring marketing and sales strategies to one account. This can have a significant impact on ROI. ABM doesn’t care about how many followers you have on Twitter. It's the closing of the deal that is important, which will help you grow your bottom line faster.

SiriusDecisions found that 42% of marketers have used ABM for less than 6 months. Lynsay Russell from Medtronic spoke at the Sirius Decisions 2017 Summit. She discussed how ABM has been a benefit to their company. The average deal size for accounts targeted by ABM was 35% higher than accounts not targeted using ABM methods.

Account-based marketers aren't concerned with quantity of leads. They are more concerned with quality. You can narrow your focus and target the best accounts to convert. Don't waste resources on the small fish. The big one is worth it.

6. The Rise of Mobile

Mobile devices account for more than half the web traffic in the world. If you don't implement a mobile-first strategy you are ignoring more than half your potential leads.

Mobile marketing strategies can reach more than 5 billion people worldwide. Mobile has now become the primary media channel, so businesses must take advantage of this opportunity to collect new traffic and data.

Make sure your content is mobile-friendly. Business owners and department heads now use their mobile devices to search for business solutions. Make your website accessible from any device, and optimize it to fit the largest screens to the smallest.

Mobile apps can be used to reach prospects and clients. This will increase sales and client engagement. Research shows that users tend to give up on apps after just 30 days.

7. Embrace Automation and Martech

There are many technologies and innovations that can make marketers' lives easier. These Martech tools can be used to improve existing marketing campaigns.

Marketing automation tools allow you to reach prospects and personalize communications. These repetitive and mundane tasks can end up costing your company more long-term if you continue to do them the old-fashioned way.

Reexamine your approach to marketing technologies. Examine the tools that you use in your different marketing categories. Scott Brinker, the author of Hacking Marketing, lists six marketing categories you can use to conduct your audit.

Marketing Experiences This refers to technologies that directly impact customer touchpoints throughout the marketing lifecycle. It includes email, advertising, social media, SEO and content marketing.

Marketing Operations.Operations covers the tools and data needed to manage the "back-office", or marketing. This includes data analytics, MRM and DAM as well as agile marketing management technologies.

Marketing middleware:Marketing middleware allows you to integrate marketing systems and platforms with one another. This could include data protection, API services and cloud connectors. Tag management is also possible.

Marketing Backbone Portals:Review every backbone platform separately as they may have different purposes. These include tools for customer relationship management (CRM), CMS, automation, and ecommerce tools.

Services for Infrastructure: Your marketing infrastructure includes cloud computing and big data management, databases, as well as software development tools.

Internet Services This doesn't only refer to your internet service provider, but you should also check that. You should ensure that the internet platforms used by you, such as Facebook, Google and Twitter, LinkedIn, and any other services that are part of your marketing environment, are seamlessly integrated.

8. Visual Content

Brand recall and awareness can be increased by including images and videos to your content. Multiple studies have shown that visual recall is more effective than text or audio. People tend to forget 10% of the information they hear after hearing it. This is despite having only heard 10% of it before. However, if you add photos to the same information they will remember 65% after three days.

A third of marketers believe that visual marketing is the most important type of content, as it helps to build trust and engage with their audiences.

Make sure to use compelling images that reflect your brand on all platforms. Use white space to your advantage and make your content easy to read. Don't overwhelm your audience by unnecessary distractions.

To illustrate statistics and data, create graphs and charts. For more relevance and branding, customize your images. Try short, educational videos. Ensure you follow these Top 10 Visual Content Rules.

9. Big Data can help you harness the power of big data

Marketers can deliver consistent, omnichannel customer experiences across all channels and platforms using big data algorithms and advanced analytics thanks to data analytics and big data algorithms. Big data is changing the way we market. It improves the quality of your sales leads and customer experience at every touchpoint. Managers can also use it to make better business decisions.

Without the right data, it's impossible to understand your leads and reach them with personalized communications. Get on board the big data train and optimize your campaigns.

Big data can be used to improve customer relations and go beyond marketing campaign execution. If the numbers seem overwhelming, a data analyst consultant or expert can help.

A big data framework should be aligned with your marketing and organizational goals. To determine which data should be included under social analytics and performance management, data science and data exploration, segment transactional and not-transactional data.

To put it simply, data is about setting up systems that collect and analyze data at all points in your sales process. You will be able to create the best marketing strategy if you have a better understanding of your audience and business.

10. Make More Relevant Content

Yesterday, I was asked by a colleague what my thoughts were about instructing sales to insert the buying process early to "paint a vision".

Most of my conversations with vendors, whether digitally or in person, are focused on them: their products, services, and their unique value proposition. But what about the buyer? B2B companies must develop content that is less about what they want, and more about what the buyer wants.

Selling to the "decision maker" is a long gone tradition. Multiple buyers, with diverse perspectives and biases, are part of the process. It is important to talk to them all. This has a negative impact on the content creation process.

Marketing content should be educational and encourage dialogue about the unique challenges and issues of each buyer. This dialogue should extend to the sales conversation. It is the job of marketing to educate and empower sales to have this conversation.

Many organizations spend more and create more content. But, it is important to ask whether this is the right content. Marketers need to learn the roles involved in buying and then create content that is specific to their needs. Marketing will then see an increase in the quality of their content. Relevance is more important than quantity.

11. Go Multichannel

B2B buyers have many options to explore and research their purchase options. Particularly with social media, they use multiple mediums. This shows that marketing messages must be available across a variety of media, not just email.

It is crucial that organizations understand their customers' preferences and make sure their content is available via all channels in order to choose a profitable medium. Too many organizations depend on email, social media and web as their primary channels. While these channels are frequently used, it is dangerous to assume that these channels are all your buyers use to consume content. Make sure you're using the channels your buyers use and making your content accessible across them all. Multi-channel thinking is key.

12. Establish strategic marketing objectives

Higher revenue B2B companies (37%) tend to see the marketing department as an extension of their sales organization (57%). Lower revenue companies (57%) are more likely not to view them as strategic assets.

They create digital marketing objectives for high-performing B2B marketing agencies, not sales plans. These goals inform the company's business strategy and help to differentiate their brand in a competitive marketplace.

13. Find a senior marketing advocate

A majority of B2B marketers believe that a champion or senior advocate will be necessary to ensure marketing success in the next three years.

This person will represent marketing and customers' voice at the executive table. They will also collaborate with other organizations to help drive business strategy and sales through the use of marketing. Marketing will be a competitive advantage for the company and a revenue stream.

14. Marketing ROI Metrics: Develop and Invest

It is important to be able to measure and show that B2B marketing has a positive impact on the bottom line of the company and drives business growth. This will change perceptions about marketing as a cost center and competitive advantage. Nearly 60% of B2B marketers admit that they don't have the right measurement tools to prove their ROI.

These barriers can be removed by establishing ROI metrics and investing in marketing strategies and technologies to enable marketers to measure ROI.

15. Develop relationships with IT and Finance

B2B companies with higher revenue believe that building close relationships with other businesses, such IT and Finance, is essential to drive their marketing strategies, measure results, and manage marketing spending.

16. Make sure your content addresses the customer journey

High-performing marketing teams and marketers are distinguished from their peers by their deep understanding of their customers. This includes their most pressing issues and challenges, as well as their content needs and preferences.

Many B2B companies do not have buyer personas, but they plan to create them in the next year to increase their demand generation efforts. According to a Demand Gen Report survey, only 27% said that personas aligned with their messaging. 30% also noted that they will need to refine their efforts.

Campaign failure is often caused by mistargeted messaging and content. Marketers have a great opportunity to create buyer personas that are specific and relevant to their intended audience.

B2B marketers who are successful use customer insight to develop marketing strategies specific to each buyer persona. They also create and curate content that is relevant to the consumer at every stage of their customer journey to connect, engage, and convert them.

17. Use Content to create a brand identity and personality

B2B companies with higher revenues focus their marketing efforts to create and drive a consistent brand identity at all touchpoints online and offline. This ensures a positive customer experience in every part of the company that a customer interacts with.

Marketers must create a strong brand position against their competitors, track and identify segments for better targeting and communicate their findings to sales teams to adjust and improve their strategies.

Important question: Does your company have an established tone of voice or does it change from one person to the next in your PR and content marketing departments? In any company's communications, consistency is crucial. If you don't have a defined tone of voice, it should be a priority for all employees. You can start by:

• Consider how you can communicate with your clients effectively
• Decide what tone you wish to project to your clients in the future
• Look at the competition to see how they communicate.

It is important to compare your competitors. While you will likely communicate in the same way with your audience, it is important to do so in a different manner. This is where a unique voice can help. This is one of the best ways to differentiate yourself.

It is important to set a distinctive tone for your brand. This applies also to your engagement with your customers on social media. To get an idea of how B2C brands interact with their audience on social media platforms such as Twitter, you can also look at B2C brands. With each passing day, the digital divide between B2C brands and B2B is shrinking.

Every company has its own voice and unique style. Next, consider how you want to interact on social media with your audience. You can choose to keep the tone consistent with your other communications or to change it slightly to suit your audience, who may be different than your blog visitors or email subscribers.

18. Establish and maintain ongoing partnerships with sales

Marketing success is still hindered by silos between sales and marketing. A joint survey by ANA/GfK found that more than half of B2B marketers believe that better alignment between sales-marketing will improve marketing's contribution to the company and help them demonstrate their ROI.

According to the research, B2B marketers' top three objectives are to increase sales and leads, brand awareness, customer loyalty, retention, and brand awareness. It is essential for marketing to collaborate with sales to help achieve these goals and to drive business growth.

19. Learn Digital Marketing and Technology Skills

B2B marketers expect that digital marketing and technology skills will be required to increase consumer adoption of mobile and digital technologies.

Only 7% believe that their B2B marketers have a process to collect data about customer behavior, attitudes, and engagement. This information can be used to optimize and inform existing marketing strategies.

20. Interactive Marketing Campaigns

Interactive content has been a popular marketing strategy in recent years. Why? You can write a blog post. But, it can get boring. New types of content can be exciting.

Interactive content can include anything from polls and surveys, to whitepapers and interactive infographics. Interactive content has one goal: to engage your audience in learning experiences, not just reading articles or watching videos.

People, yes even professionals in B2B, love to take part in activities. Interactive content offers a unique opportunity for your audience. Interactive content like polls, quizzes and surveys has a unique advantage. It allows you to collect data from leads and learn about your audience. These data can be used to inform future content marketing efforts or guest blog posts, further establishing you as an industry expert.

21. Concentrate on the Buyer

In the majority of cases, the buying process is getting longer and not shorter. This is a reminder that B2B marketing agencies need to shift away from tactical campaigns and adopt a strategic approach. They must map content to the buying process and engage, nurture, and convert buyers throughout the buying process.

What does this all mean? This means that B2B demand generation programs should always be able to anticipate what's next in terms of content. This means marketers shouldn't be selling an asset but rather seeking to have a conversation. Marketers must have a buyer-centric strategy in order to connect with buyers in this ever-growing buying environment.

B2B marketers will continue to face increasing complexity as the world and environment in which they operate day-to-day will change, shift, and grow in complexity. It is not possible to spend, create, and push more of any product or service with a tactical approach. Real transformation is required to engage and get to know our buyers on a deeper level. It all comes down to the buyer.